Cynthia Erivo and Joshua Henry in Last 5 Years!

[Play Esq.]

This

[Play Esq.]

Delete double

[BroadwayNYC2]

Why not? Is Cynthia Erivo Jewish? She's certainly a Goddess. 

The term is typically used to describe blonde, blue eyed girls. Again, I'm excited for this. Not a fan of Henry but I look forward to seeing it. 

[Play Esq.]

Anyone have insight on the presale? Town Hall is not associated with it as it is only renting the space. 

[JBroadway]

BroadwayNYC2 said: "The term is typically used to describe blonde, blue eyed girls."

Hmm...I think that's debatable. I've always heard it used just to describe non-Jewish women, regardless of hair and eye color.

 

[BroadwayConcierge]

I'm Jewish. "Shiksa" just means "non-Jewish girl." I've never heard of any other traits associated with that term.

[Play Esq.]

BroadwayNYC2 said: "Why not? Is Cynthia Erivo Jewish? She's certainly a Goddess. 

The term is typically used to describe blonde, blue eyed girls. Again, I'm excited for this. Not a fan of Henry but I look forward to seeing it. 

 

"

Also, in fairness, she is currently blonde. At least according to benefit advertising. 

[Someone in a Tree2]

The concern over whether Cynthia is a shiksa (of course she is) overlooks the real casting issue here-- isn't Jamie supposed to be very decidedly Jewish? That's the only context under which the Shiksa goddess references make sense. I'm wondering why anyone would assume that Jamie and Kathy need to be of the same race at all. Matching their skin color couldn't matter less to most of us.

Look, I'm as big a fan of Joshua Henry as anyone here, and I grant you this is a concert performance (and a benefit), not a fully staged play. All true. But parts of "The Shmuel Song" and "Shiksa Goddess" simply have to be ignored with this casting.

[JBroadway]

There are, in fact, Black Jews who are living right now in this country of ours. One of them recently won a Tony for playing Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton

Also, Josh Henry is literally perfect for Jaime. He has exactly the right kind of energy, voice and personality to knock this role out of the park. I actually think it's Cynthia who is ever-so-slightly miscast (though I still think she will be excellent). 

[Someone in a Tree2]

"There are, in fact, Black Jews who are living right now in this country of ours." Well, yes, of course there are. But which of them would naturally revert to the Yiddish-inflected idiom of The Shmuel Song to tell the story Jamie wants to tell to Kathy? I'd say not many. Anyone can choose to be a believer of any religion-- that doesn't mean the cultural history of that religion would be their natural means of expression.

Still, I agree that Josh Henry's energy and personality could work for Jamie.

 

[Valentina3]

Anyone know the presale needs? Do I have to be a member somewhere? Or Amex card owner? I have a feeling the show will be sold out before it goes out on sale for general public, so don't want to wait till 8/17

[casedilla2]

Someone in a Tree2 said: ""There are, in fact, Black Jews who are living right now in this country of ours." Well, yes, of course there are. But which of them would naturally revert to the Yiddish-inflected idiom of The Shmuel Song to tell the story Jamie wants to tell to Kathy? I'd say not many. Anyone can choose to be a believer of any religion-- that doesn't mean the cultural history of that religion would be their natural means of expression.

Still, I agree that Josh Henry's energy and personality could work for Jamie."

And the founding fathers were all white, yet somehow Hamilton is still a success and for the most part no one is hung up over the cast being mostly non-white. Are we not able to suspend disbelief for an hour and believe him as this character? Besides, there are most certainly black Jewish people who were raised with and participate in Jewish culture, even if it is "not many" - there are definitely still some. I don't think this is so implausible that anyone should be taking issue with it.

Also, I too would appreciate any information about presale tickets!

[belrowley]

casedilla2 said: "And the founding fathers were all white, yet somehow Hamilton is still a success and for the most part no one is hung up over the cast being mostly non-white. Are we not able to suspend disbelief for an hour and believe him as this character? Besides, there are most certainly black Jewish people who were raised with and participate in Jewish culture, even if it is "not many" - there are definitely still some. I don't think this is so implausible that anyone should be taking issue with it."

Let Drake break it down for you: http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/drake-bar-mitzvah-monologue/n45296

"I celebrate Hanukkah and dated Rihanna-kah" still kills me...

[Someone in a Tree2]

"And the founding fathers were all white..."

Yes, but they don't sing at least 2 songs in HAMILTON referring specifically to their whiteness, as Jamie does in THE LAST 5 YEARS re his Jewishness.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Let's flip it-- does anyone here see a problem casting Danny Burstein as Mister in a concert performance of THE COLOR PURPLE? To me it's just pure cultural blindness.

My context is this: I'm an East Coast Jewish guy, and my 2 longterm loves have both been blond, blue-eyed boys from the Midwest or Far West (basically shiksa boys). I'm high-strung and high energy, they were (are) both super-mellow by comparison. To me THE LAST FIVE YEARS is about several things, but one of them is certainly the cultural clashes between Jamie's upbringing and Kathy's. I'm pretty familiar with that Jamie/Kathy paradigm and think it has everything to do with why their romance succeeds or fails.

 

 

[casedilla2]

Someone in a Tree2 said: "Let's flip it-- does anyone here see a problem casting Danny Burstein as Mister in a concert performance of THE COLOR PURPLE? To me it's just pure cultural blindness.

My context is this: I'm an East Coast Jewish guy, and my 2 longterm loves have both been blond, blue-eyed boys from the Midwest or Far West (basically shiksa boys). I'm high-strung and high energy, they were (are) both super-mellow by comparison. To me THE LAST FIVE YEARS is about several things, but one of them is certainly the cultural clashes between Jamie's upbringing and Kathy's. I'm pretty familiar with that Jamie/Kathy paradigm and think it has everything to do with why their romance succeeds or fails."

Are you upset over the fact that Joshua Henry is black, or that he is not Jewish? Because the originator of the role, Norbert Leo Butz, is not Jewish either. If you take issue because of Henry's race, because it makes him "less likely" to be believable as culturally Jewish, then frankly you're neglecting the existence of black Jewish people everywhere.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Just let Someone in a Tree continue to bury himself deeper as he continues to not only show his myopic understanding of race and ethnicity in the U.S., but also show an astounding level of narcissism by denying the experiences of black Jewish folks simply because it's not his experience. Luckily, the actual creator of the piece--a Jewish man himself who based the show on his own experience--doesn't have such limitations and will allow us to see these two incredibly marvelous performers do this piece. 

[ljay889]

Wow. You would think fans could just be happy that two extremely talented and respected performers are getting to sing this score.

[Play Esq.]

As far as I'm concerned, that's just one less person trying to score a ticket!

[UnwoundFantasies]

Does anyone know what time pre sale goes on sale?

[Robert16]

Does anyone have the pre sale code?

[broadway_show_fan]

I too would love any presale info - I'm willing to donate to the Brady Center, SubCulture, or elsewhere, become a member of somewhere, or anything.

 

I'm also REALLY confused as to when the presale is actually happening and when the general ticket sales actually begin.

• Town Hall's site says presale is now, general tickets tomorrow 8/15 at noon: http://thetownhall.org/event/lastfiveyears-in-concert

• Ticketmaster says presale starts tomorrow 8/15 at noon, general onsale Wednesday the 17th at noon

• And then still more articles say general onsale is "Wednesday the 18th" which is incorrect (Wednesday's the 17th, the 18th is Thursday).

Any help? Any clarifications? And even if presale is happening now (as the Town Hall site says) - there's no where to put in a code on Ticketmaster! So does that indicate that the presale really isn't happening until tomorrow at least? So confusing!

[VintageSnarker]

JBroadway said: "Also, Josh Henry is literally perfect for Jaime. He has exactly the right kind of energy, voice and personality to knock this role out of the park."

He is? I'm not hating. I'm sure he'll be great because he's very talented but I do think it's a bit of a stretch. Jamie is compelling in his writing genius and energetic presence but he's also arrogant, self-involved, desperate for attention, etc. Whereas to me, Josh Henry comes across as really warm and likable and humble. The arrogance his character displayed later in Shuffle Along also felt like a stretch.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Hey, maybe ray-andallthatjazz is right. Maybe my myopia about Jewish African Americans (or anyone who doesn't match my experience of being Jewish) is blinding me to the great possibilities of non-traditional casting here. I guess that's something I should humbly work on. 

Look, we can always banter back and forth about happy peppy things like stage dooring and presale codes, but if the chat takes a turn for the serious, I'd like to think that this BWW board can take those questions on as well. My challenge to the casting of Josh Henry came from a serious and sincere place even if others don't agree with me. You guys have given me a new way to look at it, and that's a good thing. It's an important conversation to have and still worth engaging.

 

To casedilla: why should it matter if Norbert Leo Butz is Jewish? He played Jamie as a Jewish guy because that's who the character is. If Danny Burstein were Muslim, it couldn't matter less as long as he made me believe he was a Jewish milkman in FIDDLER.

 

 

 

[TotallyEffed]

So then why are you questioning Joshua Henry's casting in this?